A Debt To Pay
by Shinju Wyrde Heterodyne
Summary: Sen, neice of the Ancient, thought she had escaped destiny. But, after the fall of Talpa, it comes to squarely bite her in the ass. But...at least not hard. M for language and eventual lemons
1. Chapter 1

"Sen…SEN," She turned away from the voice, covering her head with her pillow, "Sen, wake up!"

Looking from under the pillowcase at the digital clock on her nightstand, she sat up and glared at the half-transparent form of her younger cousin.

He sat on the end of her bed, body obscured from the waist down by his blue-black robes, though they clung to his chest and arms. Navy blue tresses hung in razor-styled spikes to his waist. His face was masculine, and yet it had a delicate feminine look to it. He pushed his bangs out of his eyes as he smiled, the long-lashed obsidian eyes sparkling with mild amusement.

Sen's eyes, the exact same color, glared back at him. "It is three o'clock in the morning, Abrasax," She growled, "This had better be a matter of life and death."

He blinked a moment, leaning over to her. "What happened to wise-and-sagely Sen?" He asked, teasing her. She was not in the mood to be teased.

"Wise and sagely stops at midnight, and does not start again until eight in the morning. What do you want?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "Life and death only."

"Oh, it is, it is!" Abrasax's head bobbed up and down quickly, "Uncle Kaos wants to talk to you."

Running a hand through her hair, she lay back down on her bed, curling up. "I don't talk to dead people until nine. Goodnight, Braxy."

"SEN!" He shook her, "C'mon, Sen, you're the only one left!"

She turned onto her other side, eyes closing as she tried to block his voice out.

"Sen," The voice had more authority behind it, and Sen opened her eyes, sitting up. Her uncle stood at the foot of her bed, his arms crossed sternly over his chest. It was a pose she knew well from when she was a child.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, setting her feet on the floor and standing up, pushing her bangs out of her face. Sleep was a moot point now. Sen looked at him, her vision still a little blurry as she brushed sleepy seeds out of her eyes.

"Alright, alright, now what?" She was a little irritated. It was three in the morning, her ex insisted on calling her at all hours of the night, so she had gotten maybe three hours of sleep, she was due a new set of acrylics, but had put it off because she had just lost her job and was still waiting on her unemployment. Plus, she had just started PMSing and gotten the locks on her apartment changed.

But that all apparently paled in comparison to the newest disaster that had befallen the world and she once again had to become Wise and Sagely Sen, the guide to warriors and guides alike. She had to put off life, the universe and everything to inadvertently save the world.

"Kayura is dead. Anubis must return, to complete the circle."

"I am an immortal, Uncle, not a necromancer." She sat back on her bed, pillow against her chest. Abrasax winced a little, backing off.

"I'll just…wait over here…" He disappeared quickly, leaving Uncle and Niece to argue.

"And anyway, even if he does come back, what does it have to do with me?" Sen looked at the Ancient who had raised her over the top of her pillow. A part of her knew what was coming. A part of her wanted to be able to accept it with open arms.

But most of her loved the somewhat normal life she had carved out for herself. Kaos sighed, moving over to her, sitting next to her and sliding an arm around her shoulders. To soften the blow, of course. After who knew how many centuries of time together, she knew his little quirks.

"Anubis is not of our clan. You are the only one left to carry the staff of the Ancient." He pulled her in closer to his side, "You must guide them, and defeat the demon lord that eyes this world for his own."

Sen threw her pillow through him, pulling away. "Bite me, Uncle Kaos. I'm not playing your little supernatural games." She pushed a hand through her hair, "I just got my life the way I want it, without staves or guiding or, heaven forbid, world-eyeing demon lords."

"Sen-"

"No." She held up a hand, "I revoke your invitation to my house, spirit. Return from whence you came…" A soft glow surrounded her hand and the Ancient disappeared, with a bitter smile on his face.

She picked up her pillow, sitting on her bed. Sen sighed, looking at the clock. Three ten. She set her pillow on the mattress, making her bed before walking into the bathroom. Pulling her nightshirt over her head, she looked at her shoulder in the mirror. A small kanji pulsed on her right angel-wing. The kanji for Life. She closed her eyes, turning away as she turned on the hot water.


	2. Chapter 2

"Welcome again, Miss Sen," One of the girls smiled widely, "The usual today?"

"Please," Sen shifted her purse over her shoulder, before moving over to one of the pedicure chairs. It had been about three days since her argument with her uncle and her cousin had been arguing with her at three in the morning every day since then. One could set her alarm clock by him.

The girl working on her pedicure noticed, blinking as she started on the teenager's feet. "You look tired, Miss Sen. Something wrong?"

"Just arguing with my family." Sen smiled, "It's nothing big." She shared a huge part of her life with these people, it was one of the few places that she didn't have to worry about her supernatural life sneaking in. They liked her, too. She was cute, tipped well, and had even learned their language.

"Oh, arguing with the family isn't good. What about?"

"It's a long story." Sen shook her head, "I wouldn't want to bore you with the details."

She seemed to know that the white-haired girl didn't want to talk about it, and nodded. The slightly older woman working on her tips clucked her tongue.

"I hope it works out for you. Arguing with family is not good for the spirit."

She just smiled a little more. Tell that to my uncle, she thought, lying back as she let the girls work on her. Drifting off into her own little world, going through the motions of her pretty pedicure and her acrylics.

"That shade of pink is a little too garish for you, don't you think?"

Sen jumped almost three feet in the air, turning. Her uncle floated at her right shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed, glaring at him.

"Miss Sen?" The poor boy doing the acrylic blinked, looking at her.

She gave a nervous laugh, shaking her head. "It's n-nothing…I thought an ex of mine asked for me."

He stared at her, then sighed and nodded, starting to talk about the uselessness of some boyfriends. She just agreed.

"I came to show you something," Kaos continued, watching her, "If you don't mind a little astral projection."

"I do mind," She growled under her breath, the young man doing her nails still going on, covertly flirting with her, missing the entire conversation with the spirit, "Now go away."

Without even arguing with her, her uncle reached into her chest, jerking out her spirit. Abrasax moved in seamlessly. Sen floated a little helplessly, before she glared at him.

"What the hell?" She snapped. Kaos shook his head, taking her wrist and flying her off. She muttered something about how he just couldn't take no for an answer, before they finally stopped.

There was a large plain of nothingness, only dark mist floating around them. Sen crossed her arms over her chest. "Alright, I'll bite," She sighed, "What's going on?"

"This is what the world will become if the demon lord takes over." He motioned out into the darkness, "The life you've made for yourself will mean nothing."

"So go give the staff to someone else, I don't want it." She crossed her arms over her chest, turning away. He set his hand to her right angel-wing. She winced, the kanji glowing brightly. He actually smiled.

"I see that you did not get rid of it."

"Not for lack of trying." She muttered, jerking away.

Kaos sighed, moving over to her and holding her to his chest. "I know it has been hard, having so many things taken from you and giving everything. This is the last thing I shall ask of you, I promise."

Sen smiled bitterly. "That's what you said when you made me give up my necklace. And then this."

But, she slid her arms around his waist and held onto him, the way she had so long ago. He smiled, setting his cheek against her hair. "I promise," He repeated, "This will be the last task I ask of you."

"Fine, fine, fine…" She muttered petulantly, pulling herself away from him. "One condition." She held up one finger.

He arched a brow.

"I get to make any modifications on the uniform I want."

He gave her a look. She sighed.

"Nothing obscene, I promise."

"Done." He agreed, shoving her back in her body.


	3. Chapter 3

She was going to kill her uncle. Maybe her cousin, too. Not only had she gotten kicked out of her favorite nail place, but she had been politely told never to come back. She muttered something under her breath, before she sighed; stopping at the tombstone she had come for.

"I am sorry, little sister…" She whispered, setting her hand to the stone before sitting down, "…sorry that you had to die over such a stupid thing."

Kayura smiled a little, pushing a lock of her dark hair from her eyes where she floated next to the stone. "It was meant to be, I suppose…you were meant to carry this…" She held out the staff of the Ancient.

Sen looked at it like it was a snake, before slowly; she took it into her hand. Her eyes closed as new power flowed into her. Within seconds, she was clothed in the garb of the Ancient. And within minutes, she had edited it to how she wanted it.

Kayura blinked a moment, looking at her. "Why-"

"Long story…" Sen sighed, slinging the staff across her shoulders, "Where did Uncle Kaos want me to head to first?"

The dark-haired girl sighed, looking over her shoulder. "First, the warriors of seasons. Then the warriors of elements."

"Got it." She gave a small salute, turning and starting to walk home. After all, she had a feeling that none of these warriors would take her advice unless she was only half-dressed.

So, the minute she stepped into her apartment and had locked the door behind her, she whipped out a roll of what looked to be an ace bandage, wrapping it around her body to make her chest flat, give her less of a waist and make her butt less eye-catching. Sliding on the garments, she grinned before twirling the staff.

Oh, it was on.

It turned out that the army was a little further ahead than first expected. Sen stood on the edge of a cliff, looking as the warriors of the demon realm poured out into the streets. And, as sad as it was, the ex-warlords were getting their asses kicked. With a little twirl of her staff, she sighed and dived into battle.

While the action was dramatic, her ankles did not thank her for landing on the pavement from so far up. Still, she had bigger things to worry about. Her eyes closed as all those katas, all those spells she had tried to forget came back to her.

Warriors fell around her, either destroyed by the power of her magics or by the blows of the staff. Or both, in some cases. She finally stood in the center of a circle of defeated demons and her eyes opened. She grinned a little bit. She had thought she was rusty, but HOLY MONOCLED DEMON SLAYER BATMAN, was she wrong. She stretched a little, turning around and looking at the boys, still with that silly grin on her face.

The three of them paled. Not surprising, as they had just seen a new kind of Ancient, the one who didn't rely entirely on the staff, used it as a tool and a weapon. Still, it was a little bit unnerving to them. Sen buffed her acrylics on her shirt and…oh crap. She had forgotten about those.

She had resolved not to actually talk to them, since her girly voice would give everything away. Flicking a lock of her hair out of her face, she turned her back on them and stepped forward, looking at the first of five portals

Raising up the staff, she closed her eyes and tossed the staff into the crevice to hell that waited. It closed, demons screaming as their route was cut off.

Then, the Ancient did something none of the three warriors of Seasons expected. Screamed like a little girl and ran away, jumping on Sehkmet, pointing at where the crack had been in the ground.

"Kill it, kill it, oh for the love of god kill it!"

The three of them looked at her strangely, before looking at the ground. A happy little centipede crawled out of the crack in the ground, before crawling along the road and disappearing into the night.

"Well, now that…goddamnit, I broke a nail." The Ancient shifted, hand on hip, looking at the acrylic nails, "Those demons are dead."

"Okay, that is either the fruitiest man I have ever seen…" Kale murmured to Sehkmet, "Or they sent us another girl to lead."

Sehkmet looked at the Ancient, who sighed and picked up the staff and stood before them.

Tilting the hat up, Sen finally gave them a good look at her face. She shifted a little against the staff. "So, are we going or not?"

"Going where?" Sehkmet asked skeptically.

"To go see a necromancer." She turned her back on them, before reaching in the front of her kimono. What looked like bandages came flying out of her top before she stood in front of them.

She was most obviously female now, as she tilted her hat further back so that it rested against her shoulders and fluffed her silvery hair around her shoulders. Sehkmet was caught off-guard a moment, staring at her. She looked back at him, arching a brow as her dark eyes sparkled amusement. "Take a picture," she teased, "It'll last longer."

Sehkmet couldn't help but blush, looking away from her. Kale snorted, turning his back on her. "Which way?" He finally muttered.

"This way," The Ancient-girl pointed in the opposite direction of the way they had been going, "Ranch lives over here, at least for the time being."

"Ranch being…?" Kale trailed off.

"The necro who is going to bring Anubis back," She turned, starting to walk towards where the supposed necromancer was. Sehkmet and Kale both looked at the girl, trying to figure out how they mistook her for a boy in the first place. Dais sighed, rubbing his temple before starting to walk off after her. The other two tentatively followed.


	4. Chapter 4

She started humming to herself, walking towards a broken-down little occult shop. "Ranch-y…Ranch, would you get your little necro butt out here? I got a double in the mix!"

"BUSY!" A female voice snarled from behind the door, before there was a little giggle. Sen rolled her eyes, seeing two ex-warlords pale and one blush.

"Ranch, out now, or I banish all your little friends back to where they belong."

There was a long pause, then…

"Alright, alright. Gawd, Sen, keep your fuckin' shirt on."

"Thank you." She looked back at the warlords, leaning a little next to the doorway. "Can't get good help these days." She remarked dryly.

"Motherfuckin' magic users…" the female voice muttered, before the door opened. The girl who stood before them looked like little more than a teenager, yet her hair was as white as Sen's. Her eyes were dark green, and she was obviously annoyed. Sen deigned a snicker and the three ex-warlords looked at her as if she had just announced an intention of suicide.

"Your shirt's on inside out." She pointed out, and indeed, the young necromancer's dark gray T-shirt was inside out.

Ranch didn't blush, or even react. "I told you I was busy. So, where are the bodies?"

"Wellllllll…we didn't exactly get to grab them…" Sen looked more than a little nervous. "I do have personal articles of theirs…" She looked over her shoulder at the ex-warlords, "We do, right?"

Dais arched a brow. "We're expected to keep Anubis and Kayura's personal items on our person?" He asked, the tone as if he were addressing a child, or a subordinate.

The girl in Ancient's clothing – obviously not knowing who she was dealing with – reached out and soundly smacked the white-haired young man over the head with her staff.

Sehkmet and Kale couldn't help but laugh at his expression, until she turned those angry eyes on them.

"You hit me!" Dais announced, incredulously.

"And I'll do it again, if you keep this better-than-you act up." She ran a hand through her hair, before rubbing her temples, as if she was getting a headache. "Ranch, can we stay with you, until we get the body parts together?"

"Of course, everyone-move-in-with-Ranch day must be fucking today. Great, just great." Ranch turned her back on them, "Look, just get the cots out and set them up in the basement. I only have three, so one of you is either going to have to share a cot, or share the floor with the failures."

"Failures?" Sehkmet asked, trying to keep the little bit of fear he felt nagging at him out of his voice.

"Of course. Every necro has her failed resurrections. They like to crawl on the basement floor at night, but they can't climb anything."

Sehkmet shuddered, muttering something to himself about how it always had to be the undead.

---

The basement wasn't so bad, it appeared to be mostly clean and there were no visible signs of the "failures" at the moment. Ranch and Sen had gone down earlier, setting up the three cots with pillows and blankets, before heading upstairs to go talk about Anubis's resurrection. For some reason, Sen was a little nervous about going out in a city crawling with demons to go bring a man she barely knew back from the dead.

But, she knew it had to be done, so she resigned herself to it. Ranch was, as usual, a little disgruntled about being dragged into the Ancient's affairs, but…she also knew that it was a world-saving thing and being _The_ Necromancer of various prophecies, she was in charge of at least assisting in world saving.

Ranch's usual companions where nowhere to be found, but for Kami-sama. Kami-sama was at one point a monk in an order in Tibet, who had been resurrected by Ranch after being leveled with his own castle. Kami-sama sat on the couch, Ranch on his lap as she and Sen sat, playing video games. The Staff sat against the far wall, silent witness to their conversation.

"So, you gonna tell me what all this shit is about?" Ranch asked, looking at the screen as her thumbs absently tapped an almost steady rhythm against the buttons on the controller.

"You know what all this shit is about. World-saving junk from demons and evil and…FUCK! Kill it with fire!"

Ranch rolled her eyes, before looking back at the new Ancient. "I thought you didn't do that anymore." She leaned back on Kami-sama, who wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her cheek.

"So did I," Sen stood up, setting her controller down as she stretched. "Then Uncle Kaos came to tell me that I was again, didn't give me too much choice."

"Bull." Ranch looked back at her, "What the fuck ever, none of my goddamn business." She stood up, turning the game off and ignoring the slight sound of protest from the undead monk as she did so. "Look, you want your goddamn pendant or not?"

"It would be nice," Sen blinked in surprise, "Who did you have to kill for it?"

Ranch gave her a look. Sen held up her hands in resignation as the necromancer stepped into the back. Kami-sama snickered a moment, before he slid his arm around her shoulders.

"You gonna be okay, Sen-chan? Saving the world is _hard_." He screwed up his face, as if he knew how very hard it was.

"Yeah, I'll be fine…it's those other three I'm worried about." Sen leaned a little against him, ignoring the subliminal decomposition smell. Otherwise, he smelled gently of damp earth. It brought her back some memories, of running free in the summer with her cousin and his spirit guide…

"…are you sleeping on my boyfriend?" Ranch's voice jerked her back to semi-consciousness and she sat ramrod straight before realizing the jewel that was being thrust into her face.

"He's very comfortable, if that's any consolation." Sen joked, before taking the pendant and holding it to her chest. It pulsed a moment with the beat of her heart, and she could feel the slight warmth on her shoulder as well. Her eyes closed a minute, memories coming back. Memories of the jewel she had been left by her mother, memories of being nearly killed by Talpa himself for her lineage, memories of her uncle telling her that the jewel needed to be protected.

Memories turned to nightmares, nightmares of the hell she had barely lived through the first time Talpa had tried to take the city; it was the quiet siege when it had been only herself and Abrasax, and Braxy's spirit guide had barely made it out alive. Blood and death came back to her, burning the back of her eyes until she wanted to scream.

"SEN! Yo, bitch!" Her eyes opened again as she saw Ranch in front of her, about ready to punch her in the jaw. She rubbed her forehead, before sliding the pendant around her neck, hiding it beneath her shirt.

"Sorry, dozed off while awake, I guess."

"Ch'yeah, whatever. Go to bed, Sen, y'look like shit." The young necromancer stood, grabbing Kami-sama by the hand and dragging him upstairs before he could protest. Sen sighed, turning as she looked to the staff that stood against the wall. Picking up from against the wall, she walked back down to the basement, where the warriors were already asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

It would probably be more prudent to sleep on one of the cots, and explain in the morning, rather than fight the undead all night. She knew for a fact that they were going to have to fight almost all the demons of Hell to get Anubis and Kayura back.

Still, she was already on thin ice with them, fraying their patience. Any more of that, and they might splinter off, get killed, and then where would the rest of them be?

Sen sat against the wall, leaning her head back as her eyes closed. The staff rested against the floor next to her, silent for now. She hummed a little to herself, making a circle around herself just large enough to keep the failures away. She slid her pendant out from under her shirt, looking down at it again. It pulsed, as if happy to be home with its mistress.

_Some mistress I turned out to be. I'm not half the Ancient Anubis and Kayura were. If they can't handle it, I sure as hell can't._

_Don't doubt…doubt leads to the darkness._

_I don't care, the darkness hides everything, hides me, White-Haired-Sen, the monk's niece. Hides me from Talpa's hungry gaze._

_The darkness is Talpa, the darkness will swallow you, as it swallowed your family._

_Abrasax embraces the darkness, he's not swallowed…at least, not in the bad way._

_Abrasax's place is in the shadows, yours is in the light._

_The…light…burns…_

Her fingers clenched around the pendant as she looked into the shadows. A few of the half-dead creatures were crawling towards her, towards the barrier around her. Moaning something softly, something about pain. Wanting her and her light to make it stop.

She picked up the staff, holding it quietly so that she didn't wake the others, crossing it in front of her knees. Between her and them. Her eyes closed, and she slept. Fitfully, but she slept.

--

"_Bring me the child, I want to see her face," She was dragged away from the flames, knocked down onto her little knees in front of the demon lord himself as he looked down at her from his horse. A few of his warriors looked down at her in shock, at the blinding white of her hair on such a young child. From behind his mask, he seemed almost impressed. Climbing off his horse, he looked down at her._

"_Tell me child, do you fear me? Hate me for what I have done to all of those you have loved?" He laughed, "If you do, you should grow stronger, under my wing. One day, you will be able to defeat all of those who have made you cry…" His gauntleted hand brushed her cheek, brushing a tear away. It made her skin crawl, almost made her retch; as she always had when the demons had been near. His hand moved up to her hair, running his fingers through it, "…this white hair you were born with. It must be a sign, for mine is the same shade. You are to join me, child."_

_She spat in his face. "I'll never join you, not even to defeat you! You killed my family, and you'll kill me too!"_

"_For your insolence, yes," He wiped the spittle off of his mask, before turning away, "Bring her head to the front of the town, as a warning to all who oppose me."_

_The warrior stepped forward, raising his sword. She let her head bow, resigned to death._

I am too young to live on my own. I would die anyway. I will be with my family soon.

B-but…but I'm frightened…I don't want to die. **I DON'T WANT TO DIE!**

_Unbidden, a scream rose to her lips, the sword coming down towards her._

_--_

"No!" Sen woke, her dream almost drawing her down into the depths of madness. The mark pulsed, as did her necklace as she shivered and drew the blanket tighter around her.

What…blanket? She hadn't moved, unless she had sleepwalked the night before. A rare happening, but it had happened before. Still, the circle was unbroken, which meant that she had not moved from it.

Sen slowly uncurled from her uncomfortable position on the floor, the blanket falling from around her shoulders. She regretting letting it fall immediately as the cold settled into her very muscles. With a soft shiver, she picked up the blanket again, wrapping it around her with the staff in her free hand.

There was something about the blanket, the scent seemed…off. After all, if Kami-sama had braved the dark – unlikely – to come down, scare away the failures, and put a blanket on it, it would still smell like damp earth, of decomposition, the smell he left on everything he touched. The familiar smell that promised that while everyone met an end, it did not always have to be a bitter one.

This one, however, smelled different. It smelled almost like cool autumn wind, promising nature's coma to come, the siege of color on the leaves before they finally fell, dead, to the ground. Sen shivered again, though not for cold, as she started to walk up the stairs.

The three ex-warlords sat at the breakfast table, Ranch sitting at the end with her feet on the table, already showered and dressed with her black combat boots on the table. Unlike most necromancers, Ranch knew exactly what to do in case of battle and was ready to go trekking over hill and dale to pick up the body parts she needed to finish saving the world.

Kami-sama sat to her left, smiling as she leaned against his shoulder. He was completely at ease amongst the barely purified energies of the three armors, not to mention the three men bickering like teenagers and Ranch trying to keep peace in her own way – threatening to make them the next few liches in her already potent arsenal. Needless to say, that was not going too well.

Sen sat between Sehkmet and Kale, knowing Dais was still a little irritated at her for the day before. Well, he could get over it or drink it away. Looking up at the stove, she almost smiled.

Unlike most, who would employ someone at least mildly…well, alive…to cook for them, Ranch had roped in her teacher and right hand lich; Daemon Featherstone. He stood there, more than a little otherworldly with his silver hair tied back into a ponytail that hung about down to his knees; not to mention that his skin was tinted at least slightly green. But, all of that paled in comparison to the lacy pink apron he was wearing while cooking.

Sen leaned a little against the staff, her eyes almost closing again as she let all of the noise just fade into the background, her mind whirling with how the hell she was going to do this. After all, wandering through who knew what kind of demons to go find a body that who knew how decomposed it was.

"Daemon, coffee," Ranch snapped, "Sen's fallin' fuckin' asleep. Stubborn bitch, never listens to me when I tell her to go to bed. HEY!"

She almost fell off her chair, steadied by Sehkmet's hand on her shoulder. "What?"

"Wake up, stupid, we got demons to fight to go hit up that corpse, remember?"

"…I know." Sen rubbed her eyes, "I just…didn't sleep well is all." She pulled the blanket a little tighter around her, but she could have sworn she saw Sehkmet blush faintly. Who knew what for.

"Well, have some coffee, love, and we'll go from there," The very British lich held out a mug about the size of your average snifter, before setting a matching one in front of Ranch, going back to breakfast.

She sipped it, before she winced a moment. Not only was the coffee burned (ugh), but it was completely black. However, it soon began to wear off as she began to drink a little more of it. Probably because her tongue was numbing it to it…or something like that. Ranch looked back at her, before downing her coffee and standing up.

"Alright…you four get your shit together. I gotta go find supplies."


End file.
